I'm a closet St. Louis Cardinals fan.
There I said it. I've liked the Cardinals since 1987 when I watched them in the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants. Players like Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, and the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith. I've continued to like them since.
Now I don't follow them religiously, but my friends never really seemed to notice or ask me why I had a Cardinal hat for so long. Now you know. Another factor was that while living down in Champaign Billy and I didn't have cable for the first year down there. That meant I couldn't watch any White Sox games, and could only listen on radio or go to the bar.
I could watch the Cardinals though as they were shown on the WB affiliate in Champaign at least twice a week. Being a whore for baseball I watched every chance I got. It wasn't exactly torture either. Anybody who complains about watching Albert Pujols is an idiot.
Why is this such a secret?
Well here in Chicago there is a prevalence to hate all things St. Louis. It's right on the Illinois/Missouri border, and they even consider the shitty part of the city (East St. Louis) Illinois.
As far as sports go Chicagoans hate St. Louis. Cub fans absolutely despise the Cardinals as the two teams share one of the more storied rivalries in all of sports. We hate the Rams, and the Blues too. I'm not a Cub fan though, so I've never really been taught to hate the Cardinals.
The thing is my Sox fan friends hate them just because of the St. Louis connection. So I've kept it a secret from them too.
Why am I bringing all of this up?
Cuz it's my picture of the day. The Cardinals will be throwing out the first pitch in their brand new ballpark in about 10 minutes. I'm going to watch the game as I am excited to see the stadium and I watch every Cardinal game I can. In fact it's one of the main reasons I ordered the MLB Extra Innings package.
Now don't get me wrong, if the Cardinals were to ever play the White Sox in the World Series there would be no controversy. I'd be White Sox all the way. I'm a White Sox fan, and a Cardinal admirer. There's a large difference. I'd want Bobby Jenks putting one in Albert Pujols' ear. No question.
Well that felt really good to get off my chest. So let's get to it then.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
The new Busch Stadium. Ain't it purty?
5 comments:
"The new Busch Stadium. Ain't it purty?"
you wanna know how NOT pretty it is? that guy's ass in your previous post is better looking.
tom's brain = imBROGLIO.
Wow. How ironic.
A Cub fan who confesses her absolute adoration for the White Sox every chance she gets chastising me for liking the Cardinals.
Pot..meet Kettle.
Kettle...Pot.
W. ain't got shit on you!
first off, yeah, i admit it, i really like the white sox but think you've overstated it a l'il bit (i HAVE expressed my absolute adoration for joe crede but that's another story...)
second, i don't see it as hypocritical at all. there was no montague/capulet thing going on in my household - if the cubs didn't win, i was happy if the white sox did. never lived or died for them like the cubbies but i never, ever hated them.
bottom line, i find it hard to work up a hatred of any team anymore. exceptions: the dallas cowboys (may they rot in hell), the detroit pistons (bill laimbeer's stink will always be upon them), most nhl expansion teams, the l.a. lakers, l.a. dodgers, "l.a." angels, and the usc ANYTHING (makes the sports page here SO fun to read)and, oh yeah, the st. louis cardinals. why? maybe it's in the water, going back to the 1880s and browns versus white stockings... maybe the lou brock trade... maybe it's like northern ireland and england - we just live too close.
or maybe they're just stinkin' bums who deserve to get bitch-slapped back to the miserable hellhole of a town they hail from.
off to my yoga class. peace. :)
first game i ever went to was san diego vs st louis at busch ... and people here were big bob gibson fans and stan musial fans and i did like them as an NL team. i like the cardinal and gray and yellow combo. though we kicked their asses in 1987.
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